Self-starter for explosive-egines.



A. A. GROSE.

SELF STARTER FOR EXPLOSIVE ENGINES.

APPLICAHON FILED MAR. 7, 1914.

l, 144,1 0., Patented June 29, 1915.

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J/NVEIVTOR 5) gadye srrs rarnr retort.

AMOS A. GROSE, 0F MADISON TOWNSHIP, ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, INDIANA.

SELF-STARTER FOR EXPLOSIVE-ENGINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 29, 1915.

To all whomit may concern:

Be it known that I, Amos A. Gnosn, a citizen of the United States,residing in Madison township. in the county of St. rloscph and State ofIndiana. have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Self-Starers for EXplosi've'llngines, of which the following is a. specification.

The invention relates to a self-startenfor engines of the explosivetype. being particularly directed to a mechanical means adapted in itsoperative actuation to impart the necessary starting movement to theengine, the means being in turn reset for successive operative actuationunder the normal engine movement. I

The main object of. the presentinvention is the provision of amechanical starter involving an actuating spring and cooperatingelements, with manual means for the control of the latter, whereby thespring may be placed within the influence of the engine for winding tothe. proper tension and locked in such wound condition, the manualcontrol providing for the coupling of the spring directly to the engineshaft to utilize its tension as a means for the initial starting of theengine.

The invention in the preferred form of details will be described in thefollowing specification. reference being had particularly to theaccompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a sectional view partly inelevation illustrating the selfstarter. Fig. 2 is a section on line 22of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. t is a faceview of the gear clutch. Fig. 5 is a broken face view of the windingdisk. I

The improved starter is shown as primarily adapted for use withautomobile engines,

though it will be understood that its use is contemplated with any typeof explosive en- ,gine.

In detail structure. in the preferred embodiment shown in the drawings,the improved starter comprises a drum shaped case 1 fixedly secured. inany appropriate manner. to the front chassis beam of an automobile. orother suitable support.

The forward face of the case is formed with a sleeve extension 2, withinwhich is fixed a bearing member 3Qand mounted for a limited slidingmovement in said hearing. member is what. I term a crank stem 4. The

crank stem extends through and beyond the case, its forward end beingformed for the removable reception of an ordinary crank handle llithinthe case the crank stem is reduced in diameter as at (i. and its rearterminal further reduced to provide a guiding projection 7, a disk 8being arranged upon the stem at the forward terminal of the guidingportion. The crank shaft 51 of the engine, mounted in the usual mann a.is arranged to aline with the crank stennand is formed in its forwardend with a recess 10 to receive theguiding projection 7 of the crankstem.

A winding disk 11 is mounted for cooperation with the case, said diskhaving'a forwardly projecting hub 12 rotatahly mounted upon the crankstem within the case. The. disk 11 is designed to close the open end ofthe case, and its peripheral edge is formed with an inclined clutchsurface 13, adapted when the disk is forced into contact with the caseto coiiperate with a similar edge 1% on the case. whereby to hold thedisk against independent movement. The jeripheral surfaceof the hub nearits forward edge is formed with a series of teeth 15. and a sleeve 16 isrotatably mounted upon the hub and provided with dogs 17 operating underthe influence of gravity to engage the teeth. as clearly shown in Fig.3.

An operating spring 18 is arranged with in the'case. being coiled aboutthe sleeve 16. one end of the spring being secured to the sleeve as at19(and the opposite end being formed with a hook terminal 90 to engageany one of a series of notches 21 formed in the inner surface of theperipheral wall of the case. The connection of the outer end of thespring. is important in the improvement, as it provides an automaticadjuster to prevent over-w nding of the spring. as in the event of suchover-winding. the contraction of the spring due thereto will withdrawthe hooked end 90 from the particular notch 21 and permit the spring tomove independently until the winding mechanism isthrown out of gear.

Secured upon the forward terminal of the c ank shaft 9 is a clutchmember 22. and slida'hlv mounted upon the crank stem immediately in adance of the disk 8 is what I term a vgear clutch The gear clutchcomprises a sleeve-like member formed on its rear face with a clutchsurface 24 adapted for coiiperation with the clutch face of the clutch22, the gear clutch being formed within the clutch face with a recess 25of a size to receive the disk 8. I

The rear face of the winding disk is formed with a depression 29 of asize to slidably receive the gear clutch, and the forward wall or bottomof formed with a series of radial depressions 30, as clearly shown inface of the gear clutch is provided'with a series of radial teeth 31, ofa size and so positioned as to cooperate with the depressions 30, andthe peripheral edge of the gear clutch is formed with a series of gearteeth 31'. A spring 32 encircles the crank stem between the winding diskand gear clutch, said spring seating within a recess 33 in the forwardface of the gear clutch and serving to normally operate said gear clutchto force the teeth 31 from cooperation with the depression 30.

The rear face of the winding disk is provided with a gear 34 cooperatingrespectively with the teeth 31 of the gear clutch and with an internalgear rack 35 formed on the winding disk, as clearly shown in Fig. 2.

The starter is controlled by the driver through the medium of a handlever 36 pivotally supported at 37 at a conveniently accessible point,the upper end of the lever being arranged for cooperation with a notchsegment 38 and having the usual locking dog 39, the segment being formedto permit the locking of the lever in one of three positions. The lowerend of the lever is connected through the medium of a rod 40 with anangle lever 41 pivotally supported upon a I bracket 42 secured to thebearing 3, the upper end of the lever 41 loosely encircling the crankstem in advance of a collar 43 secured thereon, a spring 44 bearingbetween the collar 43 and the bearing 3 to normally project the crankstem in opposition to the influence of the lever 41.

In the use of the starter, the initial or first operation of the engineis imparted'in the usual manner through operation of the crank 5. Duringthis operation the lever 36 is set in the position shown in full linesin Fig. 1, in which the clutch faces of the gear clutch and clutchmember 22 are in active cooperation. Under the running of the engine,the crank shaft 9 through the cooperation of the gear clutch and clutchmember 22, the gear teeth 31, the gear 34, and the gear rack 35, thewinding disk is rotated in a direction to wind the spring 18. When thelatter has been wound, the lever is shifted forward to the positionshown in dotted lines. this movement forcing the winding disk toward thecase so as to cause effective cooperation of the faces 13 and 14. andlock the disk against further rotation. or in other words,- holds thespring locked in a wound relation. \Vhen it is desired to thisdepression is Fig. 5. The forward the case and under locking said diskand clutch for start the engine through the use starter, the lever isshifted to the remaining position, shifting the winding disk toward thegear clutch and forcing the latter into cooperation with the clutchmember 22. This relieves the gear clutch'from its neutral position,releases the winding disk from its locked relation to the case, andcauses the teeth 31 of the gear clutch to be engaged by the depressions30 of the winding disk. This permits the tension of the spring to bedirectly utilized for turning the crank shaft 9, through the connectionof the winding shaft disk with the gear clutch and the connection of thelatter with the clutch member 22.

The improved starter provides a mechanical device which may be readilycontrolled to be set by the engine, held in set or locked positionduring the operation of the engine, and released for actuating orturning the engine when desired to start the same. The

construction is important in the details wherein provision is madeagainst accidental breaking of the spring through overwinding, and inthe certainty of the manual control of the operation of the parts.

What is claimed is:-

1. An engine self-starter including a crank stem, and automatic windingmechanism intermediate said stem and the engine shaft. said mechanismincluding a case formed with a series of peripheral notches, and aspring having its outer terminal formed with a hooked end to cooperatewith either of said notches, whereby under undue winding of the springthe hooked end will automatically disengage from the particular notchand reengage another notch.

52. An engine starter including a crank stem, a case in which said stemis rotatably mounted, means for moving the stem l0ngitudinally, awinding disk rotatably mounted on the stem, a spring arranged within thecontrol of the winding disk. said disk being movable with relation tothe case, and a gear clutch mounted on the stem beyond the disk, saidgear clutch being formed with means for inde pendent cooperation withthe disk and adapted respectively to arrange the clutch and disk forsimilar or reverse relative rotations.

3. An engine starter including a crank stem, a case in which the stem isrotatably mounted, manual means for shifting the stem, a winding diskrotatably mounted on the stem, a sprin within the case and under thecontrol of the winding disk. :1 gear clutch mounted on the stem andadapted for clutching cooperation with the engine shaft. gearconnections between the gear clutch and winding disk. and means fordirectly similar movement of the mechanism including a fixed case,

4. Anfengine starter including a crank stem, and automatic mechanismintermediate said stem and engine shaft,'said mechanism including aspring, a winding disk controlling the same, means for shifting the diskbodily, and adjustable member mounted on the crank stem for connectingthe disk thereto, to selectively compel either a direct or relativelyreverse movement of the disk with respect to the engine shaft, and meansfor locking the disk against movement in one position of the disk. 7

5. An engine starter including a crank stem, and automatic mechanismintermediate said stem and the engine shaft, said a spring arrangedtherein, a winding disk controlling said spring, means for shifting thedisk bodily with respect to the case, and cooper- &

ating locking faces formed on the disk and case to frictionally lock thedisk against movement in one position of the disk.

6. An engine starter including a clutch for connection with the engineshaft, a spring, a winding member controlling the spring, and manuallycontrolled means for establishing selective connections between theclutch, the winding member and the engine shaft, whereby to compeleither a di rect, a relatively reverse movement of, or a locking of thewinding member against movement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AMOS A. GROSE.

Witnesses:

L. W. Coon, GEoRGE'J. OL'rsoH.

